entertaining / Holidays and Occasions / 4th of July Desserts 4th of July Desserts The great thing about Independence Day being in the middle of summer? Nature's truest red and blue hues are at their prime, so this holiday, add a delicious burst of red, white, and blue to your Fourth of July desserts table with these perfectly patriotic sweet treats. Red, White, and Blue Pops Watch How to Make Red, White, and Blue Pops View Recipe: Red, White, and Blue Pops Our Red, White, and Blue Pops will please guests of any age. Stay cool under the fireworks with these patriotic pops.Last summer and fall, I can’t even begin to tell y’all how many requests we got for cobblers. I’m not sure if cobblers are largely a regional dessert or something, but aside from the traditional Dutch oven “cobbler” where you dump a box of cake mix, a can of fruit, and a can of Sprite into the Dutch oven and wait 30 minutes until it’s Business Time, I hadn’t eaten much cobbler.

But I figure it’s full of things I like, so how could I go wrong? Last week when we were both in Seattle with our families, we got our kids and husbands together for the very first ever Our Best Bites family barbecue. We were pretty excited that our boys became instantaneous BFFs/explorers/Jedi Knights and that our 3-year-olds spent a great deal of time talking to each other without being interrupted and corrected by their older siblings (plus, I have reason to believe that they may be betrothed). Anyway, Sara made some amazing steaks and I brought this cobbler that I literally kind of made up as I went along at my in-laws’ house. It was truly a kitchen experiment that went pretty darn well. It would also make an awesome Father’s Day dessert (hint hint!) So first, preheat your oven to 350. Grease a 9×13″ pan and set aside. For the crust, you’ll need flour, salt, baking powder, sugar, eggs, cream, and butter. You can also add the zest of 1 lemon or orange if you want.

By the way, that whole list was pretty much a list for diet disaster. Whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, and citrus zest (if using). Then take your cold butter and a cheese grater… and grate that sucker. Gently fold the butter into the flour mixture so it is light and crumbly. and give them a whisk.  Add them to the flour/butter mixture and stir until just combined. Then add the cream and mix everything together until you form a wet dough. Lightly press about 1 1/2 c. of the dough into the bottom of the pan and set it aside. Now, take about 4 cups of berries. I used a triple berry mix and while it was good, I think next time I’ll stick to either blueberries, blackberries, or a combination of both. But this mix had raspberries in it and I’m not crazy about raspberries in baked goods (I’m a freak, I know). Toss the berries with 1/2 c. brown sugar… and spread the berries over the “crust.” Drop the remaining dough over the berries and set aside.

I’m using the streusel topping from our blueberry muffins, so if you like that, than I’m willing to bet my cat you’ll like it here, too! Mix together 1/2 c. sugar, 1/4 c. + 1 Tbsp. flour, and 1 tsp. cinnamon. Cut in 3 Tbsp. of butter (or hey, if you’re on a grating kick, you could measure out 3 Tbsp. of butter and then grate that, too!) until the mixture is crumbly. Blue White Striped Curtains Ready MadeSprinkle it over the dough-topped berriesCarpet Cleaning Wp Theme and then pop the whole pan into the oven. Aka Window Cleaning CompanyBake it for 45-55 minutes or until the topping is golden brown and the dough is cooked through. Serve warm with sweetened whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. Recipe by Our Best Bites

3 c. all-purpose flour, lightly spooned into the measuring cup and leveled with a knife 1/4 tsp. table salt 2 1/2 Tbsp. baking powder 1 1/4 c. sugar 1/2 c. (1 stick) salted butter 1 c. heavy cream zest of one lemon or orange (optional) 4 c. berries (I like blueberries and/or blackberries) 1/2 c. brown sugar 1/4 c. + 1 Tbsp. flour 4 Tbsp. butter at room temperature Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease a 9×13″ baking dish and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, sugar, and citrus zest. Using a cheese grater, grate 1 cold stick of butter. Lightly toss the butter with flour mixture until it’s mixed evenly and crumbly (don’t over-mix here). Whisk the eggs and then lightly toss them with the flour/butter mixture until evenly absorbed. Add in the cream and mix until combined; the mixture should be quite sticky and a little lumpy (kind of like biscuit dough). Lightly press about 1 1/2 c. of the dough mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan and set it aside.

Toss the berries with the brown sugar and spread it over the prepared “crust.” Whisk together the sugar, flour, and cinnamon for the struesel topping. Cut in the butter until the mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle over the dough and bake for 45-55 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the crust is cooked through. Serve warm with sweetened whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.You may feel more comfortable going solo today than depending on anyone else to show up with the goods. Innocent Venus in your 8th House of Intimacy is challenged by mysterious Pluto, stirring... Personal issues intensify, possibly reaching the boiling point today. Extreme behavior precipitates powerful emotional reactions when vulnerable Venus squares potent Pluto. You can't escape the... Unstable relationships and uncertainty about your own feelings can leave you feeling depleted now. You may be standing at a fork in the road that requires you to make a decision to go one way or... Although you're tempted to say yes to every invitation you receive while social Venus sparkles in your 11th House of Networking, you may be asking for more trouble than you realize.

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